Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

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SPECIAL BUDGET FOR MILITARY PROCUREMENT UNDER CABINET'S DISCUSSION

2004-05-26 23:04:22

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) Minister of National Defense Lee Chieh said
Wednesday that his ministry had submitted a NT$670 billion (US$20
billion) special budget plan for the procurement of three badly
needed weaponry systems May 21 to the Executive Yuan for discussion.

Fielding questions at a meeting of the National Defense Committee
under the Legislative Yuan, Lee said that the special budget plan is
very pressing for the Ministry of National Defense and voiced the
hope that the plan could be presented to the legislature for approval
during its current session.

Lee, who took up his current post May 20, pointed out that the
special budget will be used to procure Patriot PAC-3 anti-missile
batteries, P3C Orion anti-submarine aircraft and conventional
submarines.

The United States has agreed to sell eight diesel-powered
submarines to Taiwan, and many lawmakers have been pushing the
government to lobby the U.S. authorities to commission the state-run
Chinese Shipbuilding Corp. (CSBC) to build some of the submarines,
which the United States can no longer construct.

But Lee disclosed at the meeting that if some of the submarines
are to be build by the CSBC, the budget will have to be increased by
NT$80 billion.

During his query, Legislator Lin Yu-fang of the opposition People
First Party, reminded the MND that the legislature had adopted a
resolution on promoting the domestic construction of warships, saying
that the MND has the obligation to abide by the resolution.

Meanwhile, Lee also disclosed that the flying object discovered
by the Air Force on May 21 was a U.S. aerial tanker KC-135 that flew
over the route for civilian planes. He added that the MND had
informed the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) about the issue
through normal procedures.